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Argentina-Belgium: Quotes

Alejandro Sabella, Argentina coachI feel really pleased for this squad, who’ve lived up to our footballing history, for all the coaching staff, for our families. I think that, in terms of the balance we showed and the football we played, it was our best match so far. Our performance was excellent tactically, strategically and in how a team should behave, with team-mates putting themselves on the line for each other. What’s more, we were able to bounce back after [Angel] Di Maria had to go off, and he was a very big loss. We’ve achieved our minimum objective, which was to reach the last four, but we want more. That’s what we’ve come for.

Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina striker and Budweiser Man of the MatchI feel incredibly happy, and I’d like to share that happiness with my family and the whole of Argentina. Ever since the first game I’ve been saying that I wasn’t worried, that my first goal would come, and fortunately it came at a crucial time. It’s been a long time since Argentina reached the semi-finals and I’m happy it’s this group of players that managed it, because they deserve it. Now we want to keep going and reach the Final.

Marc Wilmots, Belgium coach
Argentina didn’t wow us. They looked quite an ordinary side to me, but they used their experience well. They started as favourites, scored an early goal and then knew how to handle being in front, by stopping us getting any momentum going. We’ve got lessons to learn: at tournaments like this you pay heavily for little mistakes, and sometimes you’ve got to be smarter than your opponents. Today we tried everything but it didn’t work out. In any case, I don’t see this as a disappointing result, there’s no shame in losing to Argentina in the quarter-finals. You have to focus on the positives: this team have played well and have had recognition for that. It’s been a good tournament.